Touch screen, touch detection method, and wearable device

ABSTRACT

A touch screen includes: a touch FPC, a cover with a touch area, and a main board with a display screen; in which a surface of the touch FPC is attached to a rear surface of the touch area, another surface of the touch FPC is placed on the display screen, and an area of the touch FPC covering the display screen is smaller than a display area of the display screen; the touch screen is configured to sense a touch operation of the touch area by the touch FPC, and to determine a touch position and/or a touch track of the touch operation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a U.S. national phase of International Application No. PCT/CN2018/112697, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201810271619.4, filed on Mar. 29, 2018 by ANHUI HUAMI INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., and titled with “touch screen, touch detection method, and wearable device”, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of wearable device technologies, and more particularly to a touch screen, a touch detection method, and a wearable device.

BACKGROUND

With the development of communication technologies, wearable devices have been widely used. Moreover, in order to improve human-computer interaction, more and more wearable devices are beginning to employ touch screen technologies. In the related art, the touch and display modules are generally designed to be uniform. That is, a conductive layer of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) is added on the display screen, and the conductive layer is protected by hard glass. However, touch screens employing ITO will reduce the brightness of the touch screens and increase the hardware cost of the touch screens.

SUMMARY

In view of this, the present disclosure provides a touch screen, a touch detection method, and a wearable device, to solve the deficiencies in the related art.

According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a touch screen is provided. The touch screen includes: a touch flexible printed circuit (FPC), a cover with a touch area, and a main board with a display screen. A surface of the touch FPC is attached to a rear surface of the touch area, and another surface of the touch FPC is placed on the display screen. An area of the touch FPC covering the display screen is smaller than a display area of the display screen. The touch screen is configured to sense a touch operation of the touch area by the touch FPC, and to determine a touch position and/or a touch track of the touch operation.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a touch detection method is provided. The method is applicable to a touch screen. The touch screen includes: a touch flexible printed circuit (FPC), a cover with a touch area, and a main board with a display screen. A surface of the touch FPC is attached to a rear surface of the touch area, and another surface of the touch FPC is placed on the display screen. An area of the touch FPC covering the display screen is smaller than a display area of the display screen. The method includes: receiving a touch operation by the touch area; and sensing the touch operation by the touch FPC, and determining a touch position and/or a touch track of the touch operation.

According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes one or more processors, a memory, and one or more programs. The one or more programs has been stored in the memory. When being executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs perform the touch detection method according to the second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a non-volatile computer storage medium is provided. The non-volatile computer storage medium has thereon stored one or more programs. When the one or more programs are executed by a device, the device is caused to perform the touch detection method according to the second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure.

According to a fifth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a wearable device is provided. The wearable device includes the touch screen described by the above technical solution, and performs the touch detection method described by the above technical solution.

It should be understood that, general description above and detailed description below are only exemplary and explanatory, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings herein are incorporated into the specification and constitute part of the specification, which illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure, and are configured to explain principle of the present disclosure together with the specification.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a touch screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a shape of a touch FPC according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a routing of a touch FPC according to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch of a touch screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a touch screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a touch detection method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another touch detection method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description relates to the accompanying drawings, the same numbers in different accompanying drawings represent the same or similar elements, unless otherwise specified. The implementations described below in the exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the present disclosure. Instead, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with aspects of the present application as detailed in the appended claims.

The terminology used in the present disclosure is for the purpose of describing exemplary examples only and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It shall also be understood that the terms “or” and “and/or” used herein are intended to signify and include any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It shall be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and the like may be used herein to describe various information, the information should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one category of information from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, first information may be termed as second information; and similarly, second information may also be termed as first information. As used herein, the term “if” may be understood to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to” depending on the context.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a touch screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the touch screen includes a touch flexible printed circuit (FPC) 11, a cover 13 with a touch area 12, and a main board 15 with a display screen 14. A surface of the touch FPC 11 is attached to a rear surface of the touch area 12, and another surface of the touch FPC 11 is placed on the display screen 14. An area of the touch FPC 11 covering the display screen 14 is smaller than a display area of the display screen 14.

The touch screen is configured to sense a touch operation of the touch area 12 by the touch FPC 11, and to determine a touch position and/or a touch track of the touch operation.

In the embodiment, the touch FPC 11 may be attached to the below of the cover 13 to form a touch area on the cover 13, i.e., the touch area 12. A user may realize a touch operation on the touch area 12, for example, slide up and down, slide left and right and click. The touch area 12 may be divided by the touch FPC 11 into a plurality of small areas (for example, 6 small areas as illustrated by the dotted line in the touch area 12 in FIG. 1). The touch FPC 11 may sense the touch operation occurring in each small area and determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation.

The touch screen may be a projected capacitive touch screen, and is very suitable for a wearable device with a small screen. The cover 13 may be non-metallic. The main board 15 may be a PCB (Printed Circuit Board). The display screen 14 may be an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Display) display or an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) display.

In addition, in order to improve human-computer interaction, more and more wearable devices begin to employ touch screen technologies. In the related art, touch screens employing ITO will reduce the brightness of the touch screens and increase the cost of the touch screens. However, the touch screen in the present disclosure employs FPC, and the purpose thereof is to utilize the advantages of low cost and simple assembly of FPC. In addition, since the transmittance of ITO cannot reach 100%, the utilizing of ITO reduces the brightness of the touch screen. However, the touch screen employing FPC, and the touch FPC 11 does not cover all the display area of the display screen 14. Therefore, the touch screen employing FPC will not affect the brightness of the touch screen, but improve the brightness of the touch screen.

It may be seen from the above embodiment, the touch screen of the present disclosure employs the touch FPC, and the touch FPC does not cover all display area of the display screen, thereby improving the brightness of the touch screen and reducing the hardware cost of the touch screen.

In addition, the present disclosure may be a touch screen implementation solution designed for a product with a smaller screen, which may reduce the hardware cost of the product, i.e., replace ITO with FPC, thereby improving the brightness of the touch screen and reducing the material and assembly cost of the touch screen.

In an embodiment, the touch FPC 11 has a strip structure disposed around the display screen 14. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the touch FPC 11 may be a hollow square. A distribution area of the touch FPC 11 may be slightly smaller than the touch area 12 and the display screen 14. Therefore, the touch FPC 11 placed on the display screen 14 does not cover all display area of the display screen 14, such that it has no effect on the brightness of the touch screen.

In an embodiment, the touch FPC 11 may include a capacitance sensing circuit and a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit. The capacitance sensing circuit is configured to sense the touch operation of the touch area 12. The capacitance detecting circuit is configured to determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation of the touch area 12.

In the embodiment, the capacitance sensing circuit and the capacitance detecting circuit are both located on the touch FPC 11. The touch area 12 may be divided by the touch FPC 11 into a plurality of small areas. Therefore, the touch FPC 11 may sense the touch operation occurring in each small area through the capacitance sensing circuit distributed in each small area, and the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation may be determined by the capacitance detecting circuit.

In an embodiment, the touch FPC 11 may include a capacitance sensing circuit. The main board 15 may include a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit. The capacitance sensing circuit is configured to sense the touch operation of the touch area 12. The capacitance detecting circuit is configured to determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation of the touch area 12.

In the embodiment, the capacitance sensing circuit is located on the touch FPC 11, and the capacitance detecting circuit is located on the main board 15. The touch area 12 may be divided by the touch FPC 11 into a plurality of small areas. Therefore, the touch FPC 11 may sense the touch operation occurring in each small area through the capacitance sensing circuit distributed in each small area, and sends the sensed information to the capacitance detecting circuit on the main board 15. The capacitance detecting circuit on the main board 15 may determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation.

In an embodiment, the capacitance sensing circuit on the touch FPC 11 may include a transmitting electrode and a receiving electrode. The capacitance sensing circuit is configured to, when determining that the touch operation of the touch area 12 is sensed by a capacitance change between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, transmit capacitance change information to the capacitance detecting circuit. The capacitance detecting circuit is configured to determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation of the touch area 12 based on the capacitance change information.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the touch FPC 11 includes a transmitting electrode (i.e., T0, T1, T2) and a receiving electrode (i.e., R1, R2). The touch FPC 11 may divide the touch area 12 into several small areas (for example 6) through T0-T2 and R1-R2, and may detect capacitance change of each small area independently. The capacitance detecting circuit may determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation by scanning and detecting the capacitance change of each small area. The number of small areas is determined according to the screen size of the touch screen and the resolution of the report points. Moreover, the number of TX and RX is determined after determining the number of small areas. TX is configured to represent the transmitting electrode of the capacitance sensing circuit, and RX is configured to represent the receiving electrode of the capacitance sensing circuit.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, when a finger of the user touches the touch area 12 on the left side, the capacitance between TX and RX on the left side of the touch FPC 11 changes, and when the finger of the user slides from the left side to the right side, the capacitance between TX and RX on the right side of the touch FPC 11 also changes. The capacitance detection circuit determines the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation by detecting a change trend of the capacitance of each area.

In the embodiment, the touch screen employs a mutual capacitance detection mode, and the measurement object is a capacitance between adjacent sensing electrodes, i.e., a capacitance between TX and RX. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the adjacent sensing electrodes have a certain mutual capacitance. When the finger of the user touches the area between the adjacent sensing electrodes, the finger may shield a part of the electric field between them, thereby making the mutual capacitance becomes smaller. Therefore, the touch action of the finger of the user may be determined by detecting a capacitance change between TX and RX. At the same time, the capacitance detecting circuit on the touch FPC 11 or the capacitance detecting circuit on the main board 15 may determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation by detecting a change trend of capacitance between the respective TX and RX.

In an embodiment, the main board 15 includes a micro control unit MCU. The MCU is configured to determine an execution instruction corresponding to the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch area 12, and to execute the execution instruction. The display screen 14 is configured to display an execution result corresponding to the execution instruction.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the touch FPC 11, as a core device of the touch screen, plays a very important role in the whole circuit design. The present disclosure employs the touch FPC placed around the display screen to detect the capacitance change of each capacitance sensing electrode, and then determines whether there is a touch operation according to the capacitance change. This design is very suitable for a smart wearable product with a smaller screen. The capacitance change caused by the user's touch each time is detected by the capacitance sensing circuit 54 placed around the screen, and the capacitance change is transmitted to the capacitance detecting circuit 53. The capacitance detecting circuit 53 may determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation based on the capacitance change of each small area. The MCU 52 may determine the execution instruction corresponding to the touch position and/or the touch track, and execute the execution instruction. The execution result corresponding to the execution instruction is displayed by the display screen 14.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a touch detection method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The method of the present disclosure may be implemented by the touch screen illustrated in any of the above-mentioned FIG. 1 to FIG. 5. The touch screen may be applied to a wearable device (for example, a smart wristband, etc.). The touch screen includes: a touch FPC 11, a cover 13 with a touch area 12, and a main board 15 with a display screen 14. A surface of the touch FPC 11 is attached to a rear surface of the touch area 12, and another surface of the touch FPC 11 is placed on the display screen 14. An area of the touch FPC 11 covering the display screen 14 is smaller than a display area of the display screen 14. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the touch detection method may include the actions in the following blocks.

At block 610, a touch operation is received by the touch area. The touch operation may be performed by the user in the touch area 12, such as, sliding up and down, sliding left and right, clicking.

At block 620, the touch operation is sensed by the touch FPC, and a touch position and/or a touch track of the touch operation is determined.

In an embodiment, the touch FPC includes a capacitance sensing circuit and a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit. When the action in the block 620 is performed, the following specific actions may be employed.

The touch operation of the touch area is sensed by the capacitance sensing circuit.

The touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation is determined by the capacitance detecting circuit on the touch FPC.

In an embodiment, the touch FPC includes a capacitance sensing circuit. The main board includes a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit. When the action in the block 620 is performed, the following specific actions may be employed.

The touch operation of the touch area is sensed by the capacitance sensing circuit.

The touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation is determined by the capacitance detecting circuit on the main board.

In an embodiment, the capacitance sensing circuit includes a transmitting electrode and a receiving electrode. When sensing the touch operation of the touch area by the capacitance sensing circuit, the following specific actions may be employed.

When determining that the touch operation is sensed by a capacitance change between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, capacitance change information is transmitted to the capacitance detecting circuit.

In an embodiment, the main board includes a micro control unit MCU. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the touch detection method may further include the actions in the following blocks.

At block 710, an execution instruction corresponding to the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation is determined by the MCU, and the execution instruction is executed by the MCU.

At block 720, an execution result corresponding to the execution instruction is displayed by the display screen.

It may be seen from the above embodiment that the touch FPC is employed, and the touch FPC does not cover all display area of the display screen, thereby improving the brightness of the touch screen and reducing the hardware cost of the touch screen.

In addition, the present disclosure may be a touch screen implementation solution designed for a product with a smaller screen, which may reduce the hardware cost of the product, i.e., replace ITO with FPC, thereby improving the brightness of the touch screen and reducing the material and assembly cost of the touch screen.

Correspondingly, the present disclosure further provides a wearable device. The wearable device includes the touch screen illustrated in any of the above-mentioned FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, and performs the touch detection method described in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 above.

As can be seen from the above embodiments, the present disclosure applies the FPC touch screen to the wearable device, which has a better cost advantage while implementing the touch screen.

It is easy for the skilled in the art to think of another implementation of the present disclosure after considering the disclosure of the specification and practice. The present disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the present disclosure. This variations, uses or adaptations follow general principles of the present disclosure and include common knowledge or conventional techniques in the field of the technology not disclosed by the present disclosure. The specification and embodiments are merely exemplary, and the true scope and spirit of this present disclosure is indicated by the claim below.

It is also to be understood that the terms “comprise” or “include” or any other variations are intended to encompass a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes additional elements not explicitly listed, or elements that are inherent to such process, method, article, or device. An element that is defined by the phrase “comprising a . . . ” does not exclude the presence of additional elements in the process, method, article, or device that comprises the element.

The above description is only for the preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and scope of the present application are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. 

1. A touch screen, comprising: a touch flexible printed circuit (FPC), a cover with a touch area, and a main board with a display screen; wherein a surface of the touch FPC is attached to a rear surface of the touch area, another surface of the touch FPC is placed on the display screen, and an area of the touch FPC covering the display screen is smaller than a display area of the display screen; and the touch screen is configured to sense a touch operation of the touch area by the touch FPC, and to determine a touch position and/or a touch track of the touch operation.
 2. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the touch FPC has a strip structure disposed around the display screen.
 3. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the touch FPC comprises a capacitance sensing circuit and a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit; in which the capacitance sensing circuit is configured to sense the touch operation of the touch area; and the capacitance detecting circuit is configured to determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation.
 4. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the touch FPC comprises a capacitance sensing circuit, and the main board comprises a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit; in which the capacitance sensing circuit is configured to sense the touch operation of the touch area; and the capacitance detecting circuit is configured to determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation.
 5. The touch screen of claim 3, wherein the capacitance sensing circuit comprises a transmitting electrode and a receiving electrode; the capacitance sensing circuit is configured to, when determining that the touch operation is sensed by a capacitance change between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, transmit capacitance change information to the capacitance detecting circuit; and the capacitance detecting circuit is configured to determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation based on the capacitance change information.
 6. The touch screen of claim 1, wherein the main board comprises a micro control unit MCU; and the MCU is configured to determine an execution instruction corresponding to the touch position and/or the touch track, and to execute the execution instruction; and the display screen is configured to display an execution result corresponding to the execution instruction.
 7. A touch detection method, wherein the method is applicable to a touch screen, the touch screen comprises: a touch flexible printed circuit (FPC), a cover with a touch area, and a main board with a display screen; wherein a surface of the touch FPC is attached to a rear surface of the touch area, another surface of the touch FPC is placed on the display screen, and an area of the touch FPC covering the display screen is smaller than a display area of the display screen; and the method comprises: receiving a touch operation by the touch area; and sensing the touch operation by the touch FPC, and determining a touch position and/or a touch track of the touch operation.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the touch FPC comprises a capacitance sensing circuit and a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit; sensing the touch operation by the touch FPC, and determining the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation, comprises: sensing the touch operation of the touch area by the capacitance sensing circuit; and determining the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation by the capacitance detecting circuit on the touch FPC.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the touch FPC comprises a capacitance sensing circuit, and the main board comprises a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit; sensing the touch operation by the touch FPC, and determining the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation, comprises: sensing the touch operation of the touch area by the capacitance sensing circuit; and determining the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation by the capacitance detecting circuit on the main board.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the capacitance sensing circuit comprises a transmitting electrode and a receiving electrode; sensing the touch operation of the touch area by the capacitance sensing circuit comprises: when determining that the touch operation is sensed by a capacitance change between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, transmitting capacitance change information to the capacitance detecting circuit.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the main board comprises a micro control unit MCU; the method further comprises: determining, by the MCU, an execution instruction corresponding to the touch position and/or the touch track, and executing, by the MCU, the execution instruction; displaying, by the display screen, an execution result corresponding to the execution instruction. 12-13. (canceled)
 14. A wearable device, comprising: a touch screen comprising: a touch flexible printed circuit (FPC), a cover with a touch area, and a main board with a display screen; wherein a surface of the touch FPC is attached to a rear surface of the touch area, another surface of the touch FPC is placed on the display screen, and an area of the touch FPC covering the display screen is smaller than a display area of the display screen; and computer readable instructions that when executed by a processor implement receiving a touch operation by the touch area; and sensing the touch operation by the touch FPC, and determining a touch position and/or a touch track of the touch operation.
 15. The touch screen of claim 4, wherein the capacitance sensing circuit comprises a transmitting electrode and a receiving electrode; the capacitance sensing circuit is configured to, when determining that the touch operation is sensed by a capacitance change between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, transmit capacitance change information to the capacitance detecting circuit; and the capacitance detecting circuit is configured to determine the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation based on the capacitance change information.
 16. The method of claim 9, wherein the capacitance sensing circuit comprises a transmitting electrode and a receiving electrode; sensing the touch operation of the touch area by the capacitance sensing circuit comprises: when determining that the touch operation is sensed by a capacitance change between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, transmitting capacitance change information to the capacitance detecting circuit.
 17. The wearable device of claim 14, wherein the touch FPC has a strip structure disposed around the display screen.
 18. The wearable device of claim 14, wherein the touch FPC comprises a capacitance sensing circuit and a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit; sensing the touch operation by the touch FPC, and determining the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation, comprises: sensing the touch operation of the touch area by the capacitance sensing circuit; and determining the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation by the capacitance detecting circuit on the touch FPC.
 19. The wearable device of claim 14, wherein the touch FPC comprises a capacitance sensing circuit, and the main board comprises a capacitance detecting circuit connected to the capacitance sensing circuit; sensing the touch operation by the touch FPC, and determining the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation, comprises: sensing the touch operation of the touch area by the capacitance sensing circuit; and determining the touch position and/or the touch track of the touch operation by the capacitance detecting circuit on the main board.
 20. The wearable device of claim 18, wherein the capacitance sensing circuit comprises a transmitting electrode and a receiving electrode; sensing the touch operation of the touch area by the capacitance sensing circuit comprises: when determining that the touch operation is sensed by a capacitance change between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, transmitting capacitance change information to the capacitance detecting circuit.
 21. The wearable device of claim 19, wherein the capacitance sensing circuit comprises a transmitting electrode and a receiving electrode; sensing the touch operation of the touch area by the capacitance sensing circuit comprises: when determining that the touch operation is sensed by a capacitance change between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, transmitting capacitance change information to the capacitance detecting circuit.
 22. The wearable device of claim 14, wherein the processor comprises a micro control unit MCU; and the computer readable instructions when executed by the processor further implement: determining, by the MCU, an execution instruction corresponding to the touch position and/or the touch track, and executing, by the MCU, the execution instruction; displaying, by the display screen, an execution result corresponding to the execution instruction. 